Chapter One: Initial Estimations
Sun Tzu said:
Warfare is a matter of great importance to the state, a place of life and death, a road to survival or destruction, which cannot be overlooked. Therefore, it must be measured by five matters, tested by calculations, and their conditions sought out: one is Dao (the Way), two is Heaven (climate), three is Earth (terrain), four is the General, five is Law. Dao refers to making the people and the ruler share the same will, so that they can face death or life together without danger; Heaven refers to yin and yang, cold and heat, seasonal constraints; Earth refers to distance and proximity, danger and ease, width and narrowness, life and death; the General refers to wisdom, trustworthiness, benevolence, courage, and strictness; Law refers to organization, official management, and resource allocation. All these five matters are known to generals; those who understand them will win, those who do not will lose. Therefore, we test them with calculations and seek out their conditions, asking: which ruler is more righteous? Which general is more capable? Who has the advantage in Heaven and Earth? Whose laws and orders are better enforced? Whose troops are stronger? Whose soldiers are better trained? Whose rewards and punishments are clearer? With this, I know who will win and who will lose. If the general follows my plan, using it will surely lead to victory, and he should stay; if the general does not follow my plan, using it will surely lead to defeat, and he should leave.
If the calculations prove advantageous and are followed, then create momentum to assist from the outside. Momentum means taking advantage of benefits to control power. Warfare is a deceptive practice. Thus, if able, appear unable; if using, appear not using; if near, appear far; if far, appear near. Entice with profit, take advantage of disorder, prepare for strength, avoid strength, irritate when angry, make the humble arrogant, tire the rested, alienate allies, attack where unprepared, and strike where least expected. This is the art of warfare, which cannot be predetermined.
Those who calculate victories before battle have many considerations; those who calculate defeats before battle have few considerations. Many calculations lead to victory, few calculations to defeat, how much more so with no calculations at all! From this, I observe that the outcomes of battles are evident.
Chapter Two: Waging War
Sun Tzu said:
In the methods of warfare, a thousand swift chariots, a thousand heavy chariots, a hundred thousand armored troops, and provisions transported over a thousand li are required. The internal and external expenses, hospitality costs, materials like glue and varnish, and maintenance of vehicles and armor amount to a daily expenditure of a thousand gold pieces, only then can an army of a hundred thousand be mobilized.
In waging war, prolonged campaigns blunt the weapons and diminish the morale, attacking cities exhausts the strength, and long deployments drain the national resources. When weapons are blunted and morale diminished, strength exhausted and resources depleted, other states may take advantage of the situation and rise up, even the wisest cannot rectify the situation thereafter. Hence, in warfare, clumsy speed is heard of, but clever protraction is not seen. There has never been a case where prolonged warfare benefits the state. Therefore, those who do not fully understand the harm of warfare cannot fully understand its benefits.
Skilled warriors do not conscript troops more than once, nor transport provisions more than thrice. They obtain supplies domestically, and procure food from the enemy, thus ensuring sufficient military rations. A nation becomes impoverished due to distant transportation, which impoverishes the common people; goods near the army become expensive, and expensive goods deplete the people's wealth, leading to urgent demands for labor services. Strength is exhausted on the battlefield, leaving emptiness within homes, and the people's expenses are reduced by seven-tenths; public expenditures suffer from broken armies and worn-out horses, damaged armor and shields, spears and crossbows, oxen and wagons, resulting in a reduction of six-tenths. Therefore, wise generals aim to procure food from the enemy; one unit of enemy grain is equivalent to twenty units of ours; one measure of enemy fodder is equivalent to twenty measures of ours. Thus, killing the enemy requires anger, while obtaining the enemy's advantages requires goods. In chariot warfare, those who capture more than ten chariots should be rewarded, and their banners replaced. Mix and use the captured chariots, nurture and employ the captured soldiers well, this is called defeating the enemy and becoming stronger.
Therefore, in warfare, victory is valued, not duration.
Thus, knowing the art of war is being the arbiter of the people's fate and the master of the state's safety.
[Note:]
①: "Ji" with a grass radical.
Chapter Three: Strategic Attacks
Sun Tzu said:
In the methods of warfare, preserving the entire state is best, destroying the state is second; preserving the entire army is best, destroying the army is second; preserving the entire battalion is best, destroying the battalion is second; preserving the entire company is best, destroying the company is second; preserving the entire squad is best, destroying the squad is second.
Therefore, winning a hundred battles a hundred times is not the best excellence; subduing the enemy's army without fighting is the best excellence. Thus, the highest form of warfare is to attack the enemy's strategy, the next is to disrupt alliances, the next is to engage the enemy's army, the lowest is to attack the city. Attacking the city is done out of necessity. Preparing siege towers and equipment takes three months to complete; constructing earthen mounds takes another three months. If the general cannot contain his anger and orders the troops to swarm like ants, even if one-third of the soldiers are killed and the city is not taken, this is the disaster of attacking. Therefore, skilled warriors...